Rare Coin Advice: How Not To Clean?

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,131
Nickelbox New Member United States 1 Posts	Posted 07/01/2020 11:29 pm I've recently acquired an 1892 Italian 50 centimes that is in maybe VF condition in terms of detail, but has some nasty black and green stuff on it. It's 83.5% silver. I'm not sure what the substance is and would like to remove it, but I obviously don't want to do anything that would result in it being considered cleaned. Has anyone seen a coin that looks like this and know if anything can be done to remedy it without devaluing it? Or does it already have environmental damage and nothing will save it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Report this Post to the Staff

westernsky Pillar of the Community United States 7615 Posts	Posted 07/02/2020 12:04 am Pure acetone soak and then rinse in water would be my first attempt. Report this Post to the Staff
mtuma3 Pillar of the Community United States 744 Posts	Posted 07/02/2020 02:14 am Yes, acetone... The pure stuff from the hardware store, not nail polish remover... Soak it overnight Mark ANA Member My7070 Report this Post to the Staff
John1 Moderator United States 56855 Posts	Posted 07/02/2020 05:59 am to CCF. http://goccf.com/t/57008#447106 John1 Report this Post to the Staff
tdziemia Pillar of the Community United States 7935 Posts	Posted 07/02/2020 07:50 am There is black stuff (organic matter) which might be able to be removed with acetone and not adversely affect the appearance, and there is black stuff (silver sulfide) which is the "natural" toning/tarnishing, and will probably make the coin look cleaned if you try to remove it. It's hard to tell from the photos which you have more of. Green can also be some kind of organic residue from vinyl, or can be verdigris, a copper compound. Edited by tdziemia 07/02/2020 07:52 am Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187862 Posts	Posted 07/02/2020 09:24 am to the Community! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Dorado Bedrock of the Community Canada 24885 Posts	Posted 07/02/2020 09:34 am To the Forum. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,131

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